When banned, a 26-year-old Xbox Live gamer called Xbox support to explain that his town of Fort Gay, West Virginia, was a real place and not a homosexual slur, he was threatened with account cancellation. Nice customer relations.
Josh Moore found himself temporarily suspended from Xbox Live last week due to an offensive word in his profile. Moore lives in Fort Gay in West Virginia. The word “gay” in the place name set off red flags with Xbox Live, and Moore found himself suspended, the town name removed from his bio. When he contacted customer service about this, he was told that he could not be helped.
Now, here’s where the hilarity of a small town comes into play. Fort Gay mayor David Thompson tried to intervene on his behalf, only to be told that the town’s name didn’t matter, and the word “gay” was offensive in any context. This is important to know since Microsoft changed the Live policy earlier this year and made it okay to express your sexuality in your gamertag or profile. Whoops. It finally took being brought to the attention of Stephen Toulous, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live, for this matter to be resolved.
However, if you live in Bryanisadouchebagville or come from Rickisacharterneonaziburg, don’t be surprised if your info comes under scrutiny.